" The legendary German Metal singer UDO "the German Tank" Dirkschneider comes to Wacken in 2020 for two very special concerts! Under the Dirkschneider banner he will review the complete Accept cult album Metal Heart from 1985, which is one of the most important albums of his career, in an exclusive show on the occasion of the 35th album anniversary. He also promises a big surprise for the show!
In addition, he and his main band U.D.O. will once again perform with the music corps of the German Armed Forces - the combination, which at first glance seems unusual, already thrilled us at the Wacken Open Air 2015. After another concert in Elspe in 2018, the third collaboration of the more than 100 musicians of U.D.O. and the German Armed Forces will happen at Wacken in 2020. By the way: A joint album with exclusively new songs will also be released in mid 2020! "

" Although there were just 5 new bands for the W:O:A 2020 last week as part of our Haab' calendar, we still don't miss the tradition of presenting new bands during the Hamburg Metal Dayz! The number of bands is smaller than usual due to the proximity in time, but instead we present you some nice noise. Get ready for some double thrash from the other side of the Atlantic!

Overkill
Unbelievable but true - although Overkill already played at the W:O:A in 1997, their last gig was several years ago. Back in 2012 they played our festival for the last time and since then a lot has happened both at the festival and within the band's camp. The Thrash monster has released three new albums within this time, all of them of the usual high Overkill quality. The latest output is called The Wings of War and when it was released in February 2019 it climbed to 5th place of the German album charts. We are looking forward to the overdue return of D. D. Verni, Bobby Blitz and co.!

Annihilator
Sure, when it comes to Thrash from America, many people first think of the USA. But the view over the edge of the plate is worthwhile, as Annihilator from Canada has been proving with vehemence since 1984. Band leader and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Waters is the driving force behind the band, who always scrapes talented artists around him to kick some butt. Immortal hymns like King Of The Kill are not created by chance! The band is currently working on a new record, the release of it is planned for the beginning of 2020. And in summer the W:O:A is due again. "

Just in time for the Halloween witching hour we let the bat out of the bag: No one less than the American metal institution Slipknot will perform for the first time at W:O:A 2020!

The band, founded in 1995 in Iowa, is not only known for the iconic masks of its members, but also for their extensive live performances with groundbreaking show effects. A sophisticated light and pyro show meets an only occasionally controlled madness, which mocks all comparisons with other bands.

And of course everything is right on the musical front too, as the album We Are Not Your Kind, which was released earlier this year, once again impressively proved. With songs like Nero Forte the band links to their classic hits like Psychosocial, while the experimental Spiders opens up new musical territory for the musicians.

We are proud to finally welcome this so important band to Wacken and to fulfill one of the biggest wishes of our fans since many years. We are looking forward to an extraordinary performance!

"We are already looking forward to celebrate the next Wacken Open Air with you in 2020. But before that there will be many more announcements and activities you can look forward to. In this context we would like to point out that we have taken action in favour of the rainforest. Please join us!

" Again 20 days are over and again a new chapter in our Haab calendar begins. This time we have six new bands waiting for you.

Let's start the announcements: Evergrey and Tribulation were supposed to perform at W:O:A 2019 already, but their shows were cancelled at short notice - luckily we can have them again this year!

Also new to the lineup are Kadavar, Van Canto and Mad Max, who have all already played at least once at our festival. The US-Americans of Wolves in the Throne Room however will perform in Wacken for the first time. "

" Another month in our Haab calendar started 21.2 and the start of the month brings you another program addition for W:O:A 2020! To be more precise, we have the first swing of our supporting program prepared for you.

As always, the incomparable Mambo Kurt, our favourite metal marching band Blaas of Glory, the legendary Wacken Firefighters and the iconic Blechblos'n will be part of W:O:A.

You want to get on stage yourself, even if it's only for 3 minutes? Then you've come to the right place with Karaoke Till Death, who will be back in 2020 - with you at the microphone. But if you prefer to listen, we can recommend the Spoken Word Show by Henry Rollins, who will also be back in Wacken.

We also have some German Spoken Word and Party acts prepared - feel free to join Maschine's Late Night Show, Torsten Sträter, Wolfgang Trepper, our annual Poetry Slam or the three German authors Markus Heitz, Bernhard Hennen and Kai Meyer, if you are able to understand German at least a little. "